New Emmaus ordinance aims to blot out graffiti

Graffiti marks a warehouse on Fourth Street in Emmaus. Borough council has passed an ordinance that bans the sale of spray paint to minors and require property owners to remove the unwanted blight.

Graffiti marks a warehouse on Fourth Street in Emmaus. Borough council has passed an ordinance that bans the sale of spray paint to minors and require property owners to remove the unwanted blight. (EMMAUS POLICE DEPARTMENT, HANDOUT)

Margie PetersonSpecial to The Morning Call

New Emmaus ordinance aims to blot out graffiti

Aerosol spray paint is going the way of cigarettes in Emmaus – you can't buy it in the borough if you are under 18.

That's because Emmaus council Monday adopted an ordinance aimed at curbing graffiti, both from vandals who paint it and property owners who fail to remove it.

Monday was the second reading of the ordinance that would ban the sale of aerosol spray paint to minors and allow borough officials to compel homeowners and businesses to get rid of graffiti on their property.

Council voted 6-0 to approve it with Council President Lee Ann Gilbert not voting because she was acting as mayor in the absence of Mayor Winfield Iobst.

In earlier discussions, Borough Manager Shane Pepe said the problem wasn't widespread but some houses and businesses have had graffiti on them for years. The borough isn't trying to punish property owners but rather to clean up the blight, he said.

The borough plans to send notices to those property owners, giving them 30 days to remove the graffiti. Owners who ignore the first notice would receive a second 30-day notice requesting the property owner give the borough permission to come on the owner's land to clean up the graffiti at the property owner's expense.

If the resident or business still won't cooperate, violators can be fined from $100 to $1,000 and jailed for up to 30 days. Pepe said the district magistrate who deals with the case would decide any fine or punishment.

People caught creating graffiti can be required to perform community service or be made to remove the blight at a district magistrate's discretion.

•In other business, council gave conditional approval for the Fields at Indian Creek development. The housing development for adults 55 and up still has to get environmental permits from outside agencies and council's approval is dependent on the developers obtaining those.

The development at the Indian Creek Golf Course straddles Emmaus, Upper Milford and Lower Macungie townships. Kay Builders seeks to construct 211 condominiums on about 73 acres off Cedar Crest Boulevard. A small golf course is part of the proposal.

The next plan Emmaus will see is Phase 1 of the construction but that work won't be done in the borough, according to Chad Peters, borough engineer.

About 16 acres of the development are in Emmaus, 54 acres are in Upper Milford and 3 acres in Lower Macungie. The developers hope to break ground in the fall.

Council also approved establishing resident permit parking on Iroquois Street between Macungie Avenue and the North 7th Street Circle.

Councilmen Brent Labenberg and Roy Anders voted no.

Pepe said residents on Iroquois complained that students from the nearby Emmaus High School take up parking spaces on the street. All the streets around Iroquois have parking by permit – which is free to the residents – so high school drivers opt for Iroquois.

Council heard from Mike Waddell of the Remembrance Garden in Emmaus which is taking orders for those who would like to install an engraved brick honoring a veteran in its Veterans Walkway at the garden at Knauss Homestead near Cintas on Emmaus Avenue.

The garden has walkways that honor veterans and community heroes, such as police officers, firefighters and ambulance crew, as well as others.

The ninth annual installation service for bricks for veterans is Sunday. The veterans walkway has engraved bricks for 190 veterans, according to Waddell.